Chow Down's 5th birthday (06/2) at Soup Kitchen saw a line-up of some of the best upcoming MCs and DJs grime has to offer. Having booked many grime DJs for their previous nights, such as Royal-T, Trends, Oil Gang, and Mr Mitch, tonight was an absolute treat for grime heads that prefer someone on the mic.
Arriving straight from work I was just in time to see the start of Jammz set accompanied by Finn on the decks. Wearing his signature bucket hat and black gloves Jammz immediately set the tempo high with his first bars of the night, taken from his track ‘London Living’. The vibe was constant throughout his 30 minute set, effortlessly flowing over the instrumentals Finn was dropping, including the Finn and Fallow (another DJ gracing the decks that night) produced ‘Final Warning’. Having been more excited for what AJ Tracey had to offer before I arrived at the venue, having just released the remix to his tune Spirit Bomb, by the time Jammz had put down the mic I couldn’t help but think that he had his work cut out to match the energy Jammz had created.
Next up on the decks was Fallow who continued in the same vein as Finn dropping huge instrumentals from the likes of Murlo, Dread D, and Dullah Beatz proving tonight was not just for those with a taste for the MC. After a few minutes of big tunes from Fallow, AJ Tracey joined him on stage and kicked off his set with ‘Naila’ from his Alex Moran EP which many people might recognise uses the same instrumental as Garage Skank Freestyle by Kano. The highlight of the evening though had to be when AJ spat bars from ‘Spirit Bomb’ receiving well deserved reloads from the DJ.
After this set, Travis T took to the decks to spin some tracks for PK and the rest of AJ Tracey’s YGG entourage. The room had started to thin out slightly by this point and it was evident that the rest of YGG did not have the same stage presence as AJ Tracey, much like grime crew the Square compared with their ex-spearhead Novelist. Having said this PK and YGG added a new dimension to the night and those that were left inside Soup Kitchen were still skanking away to what they had to offer.
Instrumental grime label Boxed co-founder Slackk provided a set of screwface-worthy tracks following PK’s set, differing a lot from his productions which air on the experimental side of grime music. Having been booked for Chow Down nights in the past his set showed why he is a favourite at these nights and a name well regarded in the world of instrumental grime.
In truth it was Jammz and AJ Tracey who stole the show, and with performances alongside Wiley at Eskimo Dance to come the rise of these young MCs is set to continue.
To further celebrate, check out the Chow Down 5th Birthday set from NTS Manchester earlier in the night!
Photos : Madison Marcantonatos
Bloc2Bloc Entertainment.